The Role of the police higher education in Europe of knowledge - The principles of the Bologna Declaration in European Higher Police Education Area

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1 Mezinárodní konference: European Police Model. Sofia Pořadatel: European Commission. Hanns Seidel Foundation. Academy of the Ministry of Interiér. Vystoupení Bartošová: The principles of the Bologna Declaration in European Higher Police Education Area. The Role of the police higher education in Europe of knowledge - The principles of the Bologna Declaration in European Higher Police Education Area Doc. Ing. Hana Bartošová Police Academy of the Czech Republic Prague Let me express my thanks to the organizers for their invitation to today s conference. I have been honoured to take part in a number of conferences of rectors of Central and East European countries, for instance the first conference held in Munster, the next one in Prague and later in Bratislava, Warsaw, Kiev, Minsk, Moscow, Kishinev and today in Sophia. At our conferences I spoke a lot of times about the subject of the Bologna Declaration and its application to the conditions of the police higher education. It is necessary to mention this subject also in today s paper. I would like to share the managerial experience of the application of constituents of the Bologna Declaration in the conditions of the Police Academy of the Czech Republic. Introduction Current global processes heading towards democratic and liberal society prove the fact we have entered the century based on knowledge and communication, the century of the international or transnational education. Man will have to adapt himself to the changing environment, come to terms with a certain degree of uncertainty, accept the complexity of the world with the plurality of cultures and the world outlook. The system of education has to correspond relevantly to the changes of the outer environment from the closed environment of its own country into the global environment of the borderless world of information. Being knowledgeable the society itself declares that its success and development are based on the knowledge which is being constantly developed. We will subsist on ideas. This motto evokes the image of highly qualified people disposing knowledge, initiative and creative abilities. The knowledge society cannot exist without a quality system of all stages of education as well as lifelong education. The police as a state and social institution do not exist in the vacuum but it is an integral part of the extent context of the framework conditions that strongly influence its functioning. The mankind as a whole has reached the point when the level of technologies, results of the scientific knowledge, means of communication and globalization of the world on one hand open perspectives of development but simultaneously there is a threat of their misuse. On the threshold of the 21 st century these changes do not only move on but even accelerate. We are witnesses of the appearance of entirely new security risks, for instance organized crime, mass migration of people, signs of racial and ethnic intolerance, political extremism, danger of environmental and nuclear disasters.

2 The criminals profile is also changing they are becoming more sophisticated and a great number of them come from social strata with a high level of education.this phenomenon is typical for white-collar crime, economic and computer crime. Police colleges have to be prepared to respond to the changes, to the increasing demands of the police work and consequently to the demands on the police officers qualifications, namely the managerial staff.the aims of police higher education have to correspond to the necessities of police practice, have to come out of the strategy and concrete aims of the police, of the defined educational and research needs. But this is not enough for Europe of knowledge of today especially of future. Graduates have to be not only highly qualified to do their profession but they have to acquire more extensive education in which the dominant role is played by the orientation to the development of abilities and quality of the professional thinking. I would like to remind several principles I consider to be the most important in the aimed guiding of the police higher education in the knowledge society. Professional training and education of police officers in the democratic legal state The importance of the Bologna Declaration for higher education Assessment of the quality of higher education 1. Professional training and education of police officers in the democratic legal state Police work in the democratic legal state is characterized especially as a service for the citizens. Under the current laws police protect freedom of citizens against those ones breaking laws, essential human rights and freedom of others. Social role of the police in the democratic legal state has to be supported by the qualification of the police officers. How should the police officers optimum professional training and education in the democratic legal state of the 21 st century look like? What are the primary tasks of the education of police officers in the horizon of the next decade? Police higher education still differs considerably both in the world and in Europe, nevertheless in recent years we can see a general development towards approximation to university education. Along with this fact this tendency integrates science and research. The original purely police system aimed at the professional training was during late 70s and especially 80s enlarged by educating police officers at universities and compatible police colleges. The way of enforcing and integrating it is not, of course, easy it is supposed to be accepted by the outer environment, government, parliament and legislation. Nevertheless the experience of the countries where the model of integrating police colleges into the national system of higher education has been realized is positive. The most important result of the system of education should be increasing the motivation of the police officers for lifelong learning and introducing them with self-study methods. The most important point of education at all levels should be promoting innovative and creative abilities and skills of graduates. A well-educated police officer of the 21 st century has to be able to respond flexibly to the changing social reality. He/she has to be able to search for issues, topics, questions and to find adequate answers in time in other places. The police officer has to be ready to accept the variability and dynamic of this world and to be aware of the fact that there are no definite and once for always accepted answers. Knowledge and education is a permanent and never completed process. This fact has to be taken into account and it is inevitable to apply a modern system of education to shape European education and research area.

3 Significance of the Bologna Declaration for higher education system The Bologna Process may be regarded both as the product and continuation of a series of European conferences and a certain number of policy decisions aimed at establishing a European Higher Education Area by Tha four main cycles mapping out the Bologna Process so far are those of Paris-La Sorbonne (25 may 1998), Bologna (19 June 1999), Prague (19 May 2001) and Berlin (18-19 September 2003). The premises of the Bologna Process are to be found in the Declaration of Paris-La Sorbonne on Harmonisation of the Architecture of the European Higher Education System Signed in May 1998 by the education ministers of four states: France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. The three principles underlying Paris-La Sorbonne: Facilitating the mobility of students in the European area and their integration into the European labour market, as well as the mobility of teachers Improving the international transparency of courses and the recognition of qualifications by means of gradual convergence towards a common framework of qualifications and cycles of study Encouraging a return to studies or their continuation in the same or another institution, in a school or within arrangements for European mobility A year later (in June 1999), the Bologna Declaration on the European Higher Education Area, which was largely inspired by the Sorbonne Declaration, was signed. Besides aspects of its content, one of its novel features lay in a broadening of the debate, which now had 29 states signatories (the 15 EU Member States, 3 EFTA countries Iceland, Norway and Switzerland and 11 candidate countries) and included institutions such as the European Commission, the Council of Europe and associations of universities, rectors or European students. The six principles of the Bologna Declaration: Facilitating the readibility and comparability of qualifications Implementing a system based essentially on two main cycles Establishing a system of credits, such as ECTS Developing arrangements to support the mobility of students, teachers and researchers Promoting European cooperation in quality assurance Promoting the European dimension in higher education (in terms of curricular development and inter-institutional cooperation) In May 2001, a conference was held in Prague, which included the same categories of participants, with now 33 states signatories (the newcomers were Liechtenstein, Cyprus, Croatia and Turkey). The purpose of this conference was to assess the progress already accomplished (particularly on the basis of national reports) and identify the main principles that should drive the Bologna Process in the years ahead. While the Prague conference confirmed the need to pursue the aims set out in the Bologna Declaration, it nevertheless attached importance to three points in particular.

4 The three specific points emphasized by the Prague Conference: Lifelong learning The involvement of higher education institutions and students as active partners The need to enhance the attractiveness of the European Higher Education Area In short, the major issues taken forward by the Bologna Process, on which the States signatories should take action in order to establish the European Higher Education Area are as follows: Adoption/general introduction of the model based on two main cycles Adoption/general introduction of ECTS Strengthening arrangements for greater mobility, particularly through introduction of a Diploma Supplement Developing measures designed to support quality evaluation Supporting measures designed to encourage lifelong learning Assessment of the quality of police higher education Enhancing the quality of higher education relates to the responsibility of colleges not only for the curricula and scientific, research and creative activities, but also assessing all academic workers, students, school infrastructure and the academic environment is a significant criterion. It is especially permanent innovation of curricula and forms of education, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity, self-assessment and external assessment that is being stressed. The process of assessing higher schools in Europe is generally acknowledged and supported. What is quality at all? In the beginning it is necessary to state that there is nor an unambiguous and generally accepted definition of quality neither an accurately defined unit of quality. The problem of the quantification of quality is compared to the problem of hot ice-cream. The content of the term quality itself is rather different in various circumstances. This reality is a source of a number of misunderstandings. The least demanding pertinence of the term of quality is the suitability to the given purpose. The term of quality is more demanding if it is understood as a certain threshold value that is to be overrun by a certain subject or an institution to be considered quality. The most demanding comprehension of the term of quality is in case it is understood as the expression of excellence. Recently the view on the quality as the requirement of the continuous improvement is being forced in a lot of areas not only in the education area. This view is based on the experience of using generally accepted framework for selfassessment and improvement, so called Excellence Model worked out by the European Foundation for Quality Management EFQM. Originally it was used under the name the European Model TQM, it was continuously innovated and in 1999 it was presented under the name the EFQM Excellence Model that is at the same time the registered trademark. At present it is considered the most sophisticated management tool of organizations. It is based on a simple idea that an organization is able to reach excellent results only in the event of implementing the following conditions: reaching the maximum satisfaction of its customers

5 reaching satisfaction of its employees respecting the environment Therefore the organization carries out the self-assessment that is realized through the regular review of the organization s activity and the mutual comparison that is realized among the organizations units with the same or similar functions using the scientific methods based on EFQM ME. The Excellence Model is a tool for the complex quality management which can be successfully applied in non-profit organizations as well as in public administration, educational institutions etc. The EFQM ME Model is being gradually introduced into the Police of the Czech Republic. The aim is to improve the performance and collaboration of the police service as a service consistently aimed at assisting the citizens. The main idea of the application is to guarantee reaching the highest quality possible in the process of involving all associate workers into the performance of duties. Specific points of the model, among others: effort to improve the organization activity is based on the information obtained by the assessment of the organization itself success of the organization activity is based on the demands of clients, partners and people involved in the organization activity the task of the organization management is to create conditions for systematic activity and improvement of the work of the organization that is considered by the results and indices reached in the process the organization management and its assessment is based on the comprehension of basic processes ongoing in the organization and on the measurement of their suitability by means of the reached results and indices the systematic approach to realize the chosen methods in the whole organization leads to the stable performance, assessment of the suitability and effectiveness of the chosen methods lead to the improvement of the results of the organization work and satisfaction of all interested groups effective activity of the organization is based on mutually useful and systematically adjusted ties with appropriate partners the basis for the successful activity of the organization is the care of the development and support of the employees More complex comprehension of quality can be expressed in terms of reaching the aims given beforehand. Then the quality can be understood as the extent of reaching the given aims.it is clear that the aims of subjects functioning in the education process can be varied. Different aims are observed by students, by teachers, employees etc. This shows that quality is, to a certain degree, a subjective, but first of all, a multidimensional term. In other words there is no single quality of the education process. I am going to present other terms related to quality. The terms quality management or quality assurance are understood not only as the quality assessment but also all activities and mechanism by means of which the quality is maintained and developed. The term quality assessment is understood as the quality assessment of some subject, for instance a curriculum, a school, a department etc. The quality of a college or university is based on: professional level and experience of its staff

6 effectiveness of the management the way of the internal decision curricula structures accuracy and integrity of academic and administrative procedures internal culture of the school, individual faculties and departments relations among members of staff in all posts an at all levels the level of the relations between the college or university staff and students Speaking about the assessment of police higher schools I recommend to interpret quality as a permanent process of improving the school environment and activity of the school aiming at reaching the goals set up beforehand. Let us remind that the final result of a college or university is not a graduate (though the number of graduates is easy to count), but the education provided to the graduate and his/her chances at the labour market. And the quality of this product is formed by the quality of all activities an undergraduate takes part in voluntarily or obligatorily during his/her studies and also by reaching the goal set up beforehand, it is the graduate s profile. We need to add that quality is not unalterable and given once and for all quality assessment and management in educational institutions is possible, useful and necessary How can a college or university prove its quality? The question how a college or university can prove that its graduates really reach the presupposed dispositions and parameters is very important. The answer goes as follows: There are internationally recognized methods and standards of quality assessment. Their realization is commited either to state bodies (accreditation commission) or to private professional institutions which are experts in the relevant field and which are concerned with quality assessment and the assessments of which are recognized by either national or international standards.in basic two types of assessment are distinguished: external (independent of a school) self-assessment - internal (university) quality assessment Even without extensive theories of quality assessment some characteristics of quality are evident at first sight. Among others it is especially a professional teaching staff, their professional and moral qualities, strong and tenacious guidance, excellent students, level of care of students, level of degree works, care of doctoral studies, utilizing modern information and communication technologies, balanced curricula, up-to-date equipped laboratories, excellent results in the field of science and research, ability of quick and flexible response to the changing external environment and its requirements, support of schools from institutions, good school climate, well maintained buildings etc. Who practices the external quality assessment? As mentioned above quality assessment can be divided into national and international. For instance in the Czech Republic the external quality assessment of a college or university is reflected in the compulsory accreditation carried out by the Accreditation Commission (the government board established under the law) on the basis of its methodology. At the international level quality assessment is recognized especially according to the subjects of studies and used methodology. For instance the accreditation of engineering programmes according to American methodology is realized by the ABET organization (Accreditation

7 Board for Engineering and Technology) on the basis of the Canadian methodology of CEAB (Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board). Washington Accord associates English speaking countries and has its own rules for accrediting engineering programmes. There is a number of European intiatives emerging lately that aim at quality testing of education utilizing ISO 9000 norms. In fact it is a quality norm for industrial enterprises and trade companies. It is a worldwide recognized standard that has been used since The latest version dates back to 2000 and it has reduced the number of norms to one ISO 9001:2000. The substantial change compared with the previous one is the requirement of the permanent quality improvement. It includes a series of requirements for quality management system in the given organization, especially requirements for the organizational structure, manufacturing processes and documentary procedures aimed at reaching a higher quality. Those requirements are a minimum. Provided the organization meets these demands it will obtain a certificate and it will be registered. The norm is drawn up as a general one, i.e. it can be applied to any type of organization regardless its size and its activity field. Therefore it can be applied to educational institutions. However it is necessary for them to interpret newly the terms used in the norm (a dictionary is necessary). Compared to other accreditation procedures ISO 9001:2000 underlines the formalization of goals in the explicite form, clearly defined duties and responsibilities of individual workers and departments. This methodology was applied in accreditation of US and European universities. British initiative EPC is based on ISO 9000 and TQM (Total Quality Management). It stresses the attention to ensuring quality in a full range of activities, it includes quality planning, its managing and enhancing. It focuses on the institution as a whole, not only on its curricula. The model sets 18 requirements for a functioning system of ensuring the quality including taking on quality staff, assessing them regularly in written etc. What is the core of self-assessment? Self-assessment is the concern of the school itself. Its aim is to reveal strong and weak aspects of teaching process, to promote and share good experience of faculties, departments and individuals. It is comprehended as a means for a permanent improvement of the school activity in all areas and reaching the best results possible. It is a process going spontaneously, but it is also necessary to formalize it and to make out such documentation that could convince both the employees and students about the real quality of the school. Self-assessment is in a certain sense of meaning more important than the external assessment. Especially for that reason that it is within terms of the workers who are closely familiar with the work itself and with the background of running the school. In addition they are the people who themselves will introduce potential suggestions for improvements proposed in the course of the assessment process. In a lot of cases the point in question of a school quality is reduced to the knowledge and skills assessment of their graduates and finding their place in practice. In so doing only positive examples are usually introduced. But here the quality of the whole teaching process beginning with the entrance exams and ending with defending the degree work and the final state exam is at issue. Also students view on the quality issue carried out in the form of various students opinion polls seems to be a very important information. Quality improvement should become a part of a school everyday life. It is the matter of all workers from the school management up to the last officer of the studies department. Keeping up and improving the quality is, however, a process, a system of measures that are in progress every day, every term, every academic year.

8 Conclusion Globally running processes aiming at the democratic and liberal society bear evidence that we have entered the century of knowledge society knowledge and communication, the century of international, respectively transnational education. Police colleges or universities undergo a continuous process of transformation to new conditions of police work. It is necessary to realize that it is not possible any more to develop and organize police higher education on the principles of police area exclusively but only in the wide university context, national, as well as transnational while respecting police specifics. In this connection it seems useful to prefer a multi-stage system of Anglo-Saxon baccalaureate and magisterial studies and structured doctoral studies. A considerable importance is put to lifelong extention and post-graduate studies as a significant area of the lifelong education. Further development of police higher education system and its transformation is necessary to realize in accordance with the Bologna Declaration stressing the process of convergence of high-school education system not only at the national level but also in the wide European context of a higher education system. Considering the improvement of the European dimension in the area of a police higher education system it will be important to resolve some open issues which are seen by me especially in the following areas: necessity to define international standards of a police higher education system that would respond to the rising requirements for performing police activities, to the fact crime is becoming international and to the inevitability of making police forces mobile at the international level with regard to the international team cooperation, to adopt, in accordance with the Bologna Declaration, the system of a two-stage model of university education system consisiting of baccalaureate study programmes (3 years), followed by magisteral study programmes (2years) and doctoral study programmes (3 years), to institute compatible titles (Bc., Mgr., Ph.D.) and diploma supplements, to analyze the standing police university education providers with the aim to introduce school rating and compatible factors corresponding to the defined European tendencies, to adopt a system of clear and comparable stages of university education, among others to introduce a diploma supplement to create a credit system - best of all ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) as an appropriate means of an all-round support of students mobility that will enable to complete a part of a study programme at universities abroad. The standing assessment system (passing the exams and course-unit credits of the national study programmes) enables international recognition of diplomas and qualifications gained during studies of international study programmes. In case of introducing the credit system a student s study at a police university abroad will be included in the whole period of studies at the national police university. to introduce the system into the assessment of police university institutions, police university assessment, for instance using EFQM methodology. The problems mentioned can for instance be solved through projects in the framework of police aimed educational associations of CEPOL or AEPC. The Police Academy of the Czech Republic has experience with the application of the Bologna Declaration in the area of structured study programmes and assessment of pedagogical activities. Sorbonna and Bologna Declarations, Prague and Berlin conferences function as a catalyzer of university education systems reforms in Europe. Although it is still necessary

9 to cover a long journey in bringing them into life, I do not see any single reason why police university education should lag behind or follow different ways. Literature: Dale,B., Cooper,C.: Total Quality and Human Resources. Blackwell, Oxford, 1992 European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM): Self-assessment Guidelines. EFQM, Brussels, 1995